{"id":2368,"date":"2019-04-11T07:52:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T07:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/why-i-feel-its-important-to-share-rejection-stories-in-academia\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T06:37:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T06:37:04","slug":"why-i-feel-its-important-to-share-rejection-stories-in-academia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/why-i-feel-its-important-to-share-rejection-stories-in-academia","title":{"rendered":"Why I feel it’s important to share rejection stories in academia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rejection sucks. It can affect us like physical pain. But like we would the genesis of an old scar on the forehead, let\u2019s keep sharing our tales of rejection.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each year, around this time, some of my students greet me with sad faces. They\u2019ve tried their best to get a training contract or a paralegal position, but they haven\u2019t been successful.<\/p>\n

In our\u00a0weekly clinic meetings<\/a>\u00a0we often discuss what happened at vacation placements, interviews or assessment days and my students and I share tips for application forms and interview questions. But this doesn\u2019t necessarily provide comfort. My students tell me that they still feel hurt from the rejection. And so, each year, around this time, \u00a0I tell my students a story. It goes something like this:<\/p>\n

When I was a law student I applied to a significant number of law firms for a job. Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Chester, London, Birmingham, Liverpool: you name a city, I applied to work there. I did my homework. I researched the law firms thoroughly. I thought about the questions they might ask and the answers I might give. I knew about their charitable work, their top clients, potential areas for growth. And this was back in the day where you had to queue up in the library to get on a computer. A computer that would then take 5 minutes \u2018dialing up.\u2019\u00a0Despite many interviews \u2013 some good, some really terrible \u2013 I didn\u2019t get any offers of employment. Slowly but surely, I pinned the rejection letters to the wall of my student digs. They covered the damp perfectly. I also made a note of the law firms\u2019 feedback on my performance. I distinctly remember where I was standing the day I was told that one half of a particular law firm\u2019s partners wanted me to have the job and the other half didn\u2019t, but in the end they decided it was a no\u2026 and, by the way, appearance was quite important in the legal world \u2013 had I thought about going to the gym? Ahem.<\/em><\/p>\n

Two years of rejection. Two years of rejection letters. I had very nearly given up.<\/strong> Clearly the legal life was not meant for me. And then, on the day of graduation, I landed a job. The greatest job. I was to be a teacher. A Graduate Tutor at a university, teaching business law to undergraduate students. Fixed term \u2013 for 24 months.\u00a0And at the end of those 24 months, filled with confidence, life experience, and a newly formed wry, sometimes a bit daft, sense of humour that only teaching can bring, I applied for a training contract and got it. I trained to be a solicitor and many years later returned to teaching law at\u00a0university.<\/p>\n

In March, JK Rowling\u00a0published the letters of rejection<\/a>\u00a0she received about her first Robert Galbraith novel, The Cuckoo\u2019s Calling. The letters themselves have been somewhat sensationalised in the press (\u201cJK Rowling told to go to writing classes!!\u201d), but, actually, they\u2019re full of useful tips for budding novelists. I liked that JK Rowling herself noted that she was sharing them \u201cfor inspiration,\u201d\u00a0rather than revenge. Because it\u2019s an important story to tell: everyone gets rejected at some point. And, at some point, something else will come along.<\/p>\n

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By popular request, 2 of @RGalbrath<\/a>‘s rejection letters! (For inspiration, not revenge, so I’ve removed signatures.) pic.twitter.com\/vVoc0x6r8W<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n